Rocket Launch

We are in Titusville Florida just across the water from the Space Center. A COTS 1 rocket launch was postponed yesterday when we were on the road coming here to this morning when we could see it very clearly.

It was wonderful and hot for the first week we were in central Florida. We did a lot of biking and swimming. That was it! It is now down in the 30's at night and 50's during the day. It is supposed to be in the 70's this weekend so we will go to the National Seashore then. By Monday supposed to be in the 20's at night and 40's during the day. It is sunny, but very dry - high fire risk. It is supposed to be warmer than normal here this winter - we are waiting!

Last Post for Awhile

We have been enjoying sun and mid 70's here in St. Augustine - finally our kind of weather! We have visited the famous Spanish fort again and walked through the historic district. The best known street is St. George full of restaurants, gift shops and people. Welcome to Florida and crowds!

Spent some time just sitting by the water watching the boats come and go in the harbor - so relaxing! Stopped by the St. Augustine lighthouse for another time and then went to Fort Matanzas at the south end of Anastasia Island. It is a very small fort used by the Spanish to guard the "backdoor" to St. Augustine.



Of course the beach always calls us for a walk and these beaches are spectacular!


This is our last "tourist" place. For the next few months we will be in relax mode - walking, riding bikes and swimming at the pool! In other words, nothing much to post.

Savannah GA

We have had 2 beautiful sunny days to revisit this area. We love the laid back feeling of Savannah after the bustle of Charleston SC. It is so easy to walk all through the historic district with few people and little traffic. The town squares throughout the city are such a nice place to relax. We spent one day just walking and enjoying the historic area and had lunch at our favorite place, Mrs. Wilkes. At one time it was a boarding house, but now they just do lunch in the boardinghouse style. It is a delicious southern lunch with all of those favorite dishes served family style - so many different dishes that you can't even taste all of them before you are full. These pictures are typical of the houses you find in Savannah.




Today we went to Fort Pulaski, a well preserved fort from the Civil War. Since we had thoroughly explored the fort on our last visit, we decided to walk the mile trail to see the Cockspur Lighthouse.

From the fort it is just a few miles to Tybee Island, a beach community. We revisited the lighthouse there and even found the same seafood market as last time and bought lots of local shrimp!

Charleston

We finally found warm weather! And the big surprise - no humidity! We enjoyed a quick second visit here. We knew we wanted to do another carriage ride through historic Charleston, walk through the market and have low country boil for lunch and we did all three! This time we also visited the only tea plantation in North America and saw how tea is made. Since I love tea, this was especially interesting to me and I learned a lot! There were acres and acres of tea plants, an evergreen that is disease and insect resistant. The new growth from May to September is "mowed" off the top whenever there is new growth of more than 3".



This time of year the plants are just starting to bloom - small white flowers.


With such beautiful weather, we spent a day at Folly Beach near Charleston. It was the typical beach area, but relaxing to just sit and listen to the surf.

Outer Banks

We have had a very busy 2 days seeing the Outer Banks. The first day was all about lighthouses and 3 of them are south. We drove all the way to the end of Hatteras Island and then caught a ferry to Ocracoke Island and drove the 12 miles of the island to see its lighthouse. The little town was quaint, but everything was closed for the season. We stopped to see the wild ponies that have lived on the island for 200 years and are now looked after by the National Parks. Had a little time to visit the beach and the ocean, but no shells. Then back on the ferry to Hatteras and its lighthouse, probably the most well known one.




The south end of the Outer Banks has several small typical beach towns. Most however is National Park lands with birding areas, dunes and Pamblico Sound and Atlantic Ocean access.
The next lighthouse was Bodie Island which is undergoing renovation and was surrounded by scaffolding and wires to anchor it all to the ground.

The second day we visited the Wright Brothers Memorial. We now know why they picked that hill for glider flights - the wind always blows! The exhibits were very interesting.

Then we headed to Jockey Ridge State park which has the largest sand dunes on the east coast. We walked up to the top of the dunes with a gorgeous view of Pamblico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. It was worth the hike up in shifting sand!



The north end has three "touristy" beach towns that run together - Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head. The season has ended, but one can imagine what it would be like in the summer! No shortage of rental houses everywhere and lots of stores, restaurants and attractions to capture your money. It was a great time to come and we had sunny but cool weather, made colder by the constant wind.

The Latest Updates

We would like to welcome Elizabeth Rose Mintz to the family. She was born Oct. 29 after much coaxing from her parents and doctor. She and her momma have had a few complications so they have been in the hospital and hope to go home today. Congratulations Sarah and Adrian! We look forward to meeting our newest granddaughter!

We spent 2 weeks in Hershey PA relaxing since we have been there several times. We did go out for a PA Dutch lunch one day and did some buying at the cannery. Of course, we stocked up on Hershey chocolate too! The leaves were just beginning to change, but it sure was cold!

We are now in Gloucester VA for our final week. We have had a couple of warm days, but mostly cold with a good breeze to make it feel even colder. We are still looking for the warm weather. The leaves here have mostly just turned brown and been blown off in the winds. Not a good color year where we have been.

We have also visited here several times, but wanted to revisit the Historic Triangle. Yorktown was first and has not changed much. They do have a free shuttle that takes you around the town and gives you some history along the way. We visited the Moore House where Cornwallis surrendered marking the end of the Revolutionary War.



We saw the most changes at Jamestown with a beautiful new visitor center and museum of artifacts. The archaeological digs they have are always different and this time they had 2 in the fort area they were getting ready to cover for the winter. The archaeologists were taking pictures and we were able to talk to one about what they had found - quite interesting! It is a beautiful place along the river and we enjoyed walking the grounds.




We always love to just walk around Colonial Williamsburg. It was a warm beautiful day with very few people.

New York City

What a hectic week! There is so much to see in and around NYC and we tried to do as much as we could. We spent 4 full days in the city and 2 days in the Hudson River area. We had some rain and cool temps, but it did finally get sunny and warmer. We stayed in a park north of the city on the Hudson River. To get to the city, we drove about 1.5 miles to the rail station where there was plenty of parking for daily people - most stations only have parking for commuters. It was a 45 minute ride on the rail to Grand Central Station. The first 3 days we had a double decker bus pass for touring and learning about everything. The first day we just rode the bus on all the loops (Uptown, Downtown and Brooklyn) and got off at Central Park for a walk and lunch. The next day it was off to see the Statue and Ellis Island. We had pedestal tickets for the statue so we could go up to the observation deck and also see the stairs to the crown. She is magnificent!




We then took the ferry to Ellis Island. It is inspiring to see where the immigrants first came and the procedures they went through to be admitted to this country. Only The Main Building is restored, but they are working on the many other buildings.



We spent a day at Rockefeller Plaza. We toured NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall and even got to see some of the Today Show on the plaza. Just seeing the plaza, fountain, ice rink and where the Christmas tree is placed was very exciting. They were also filming a movie nearby!


Last stop at Rockefeller Plaza was the Top of the Rock. What a view of NYC!


We visited St. Paul's Church which was adjacent to the World Trade Center site and now houses the memorials. On Ground Zero they are rebuilding Tower 1 and one other building. It is totally fenced and you cannot see anything except what is above the fence. Many people were upset by this, but we were told it is private property and thus the owner can keep people from viewing with the fence. Many buildings in this area were so damaged they had to be destroyed, but this historical church survived. The globe that stood between the towers is in another park for now and will be moved back to the original site when construction is completed. It is very heavily damaged, but was saved. This site is 5 blocks long and in NYC blocks are very long, so it is a huge area that was destroyed.




We spent several hours in Times Square surrounded by videos, billboards and lots of people. The theater district is also here and we went to see The Lion King - it was fabulous! The first picture shows the ball and the second picture is of the whole building with the ball. A large area is closed to traffic, but is absolutely full of people! We can't even imagine New Years Eve.




We spent one day on a Hudson River cruise and saw West Point Military Academy from the water. We then did the tour of West Point. It was very interesting and you are able to see everything except the main campus which is classrooms. Then another day we visited Washington Irving's cottage on the Hudson.

There is much history along the Hudson, from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. Sleepy Hollow was established in 1640. These villages are quaint and have many historical homes and buildings. Also very prominent in this area is the Rockefeller family and their summer home built in the early 1900's was given to a historical society in 1994 and opened to the public. It was set on 600 acres overlooking the Hudson River. The family kept the golf course and a rather large building called The Playhouse with tennis courts and several pools. It is used by the Rockefellers and their friends. The home and the history of this family was very interesting on the tour here.

It is fun to watch shows from NYC and know exactly where it is and what they are talking about.


We are now near Hershey PA. This is our third time here, so we have seen most everything and will just have a relaxing time.

Playing Tourist in Port Clinton Ohio

The rain finally stopped and we have spent 3 days just driving and seeing the sights in this area. It is right on Lake Erie and in the summer would be a very busy place. Now, most everything is closed for the season. We went to state parks, wildlife refuges and lighthouses. Here are the highlights.

Lake Erie and one of its many beaches.













Marblehead Lighthouse on the Marblehead peninsula.

















From Marblehead peninsula, Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky. It is only open on weekends so we did not get to ride the 17 rollercoasters there!





This little bull frog was one of many we saw. They are very common here and not shy!











We had a great time although a little short. Tomorrow we are headed to New York for our long anticipated trip to NYC. It will be a very busy week!

Time Flies

Finally have some time to catch up on long overdue things.

We had a great time in South Dakota revisiting some places and finding some new ones. We started in Rapid City by revisiting one of our favorite places, Custer State Park. The animals and scenery are abundant and beautiful.

The many burros are very tame and come to get petted and fed. This guy was ready for his carrots. There was a darling baby that was just learning to eat carrots, but still preferred its mama!









The prairie dog "city" had moved from the last time we were there. They are industrious little critters!











Bison are everywhere and not shy!













This area is called The Needles - a beautiful winding drive with very narrow tunnels through the rocks!












And finally a visit to see the presidents - always an awesome sight!












We also visited the famous Wall Drugs which is an ever expanding mass of buildings selling souvenirs, mostly made in China. We enjoyed buffalo burgers while there.

We decided we needed to see Sturgis, famous for its motorcycle rally in August. On our visit it was filled with around 500 mustangs of all ages and kinds. The town itself is mostly bars, taverns and tattoo parlors!

Then it was on to Mitchell, home of the famous Corn Palace. The exterior is filled with murals made of 9 different colors of corn, sourdock and rye. These murals are redone every year. The inside is used for community activities with a basketball court and stage.

As I mentioned in the last blog we are official South Dakotians. specifically Madison so we went to visit the town. It is a very clean and neat town where everyone knows everyone. A very typical small town. So here is our front door and our "home".

Then it was 4 states in four nights, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and finally Goshen Indiana for the Escapees Escapade. It is a rally with get togethers, classes and vendors. This was our first Escapade, but will not be our last. We had so much fun and these people are so friendly and welcoming. We volunteered to help out for two shifts. First was refreshments which since it was very hot was mostly selling soft serve ice cream cones - 500 in 3 hours. Ralph made them and Pam collected the money. Boy were we tired that night! Next was 3 hours on gate duty - checking vehicles entering to make sure they were allowed into the fairgrounds. Not to hard and actually fun waving and giving them thumbs up to enter, that is until a torrential downpour started and we were soaked. It rains hard in the midwest - buckets and buckets!

After Escapade, we spent the next week getting improvements and warranty work done on our rig. Up early and out of the rig all day gets tiring. Heartland ( the manufacturer of our rig) was wonderful and rented us a hotel for one night so we would not have to get up so they could start on the rig at 5am! We had a luxurious shower - those with a house will not understand- with all the hot water we wanted and we slept late!

We stayed a few extra days in the Elkhart/Goshen area to play tourist. This area is of course the RV Capital of the USA with so many manufacturers and suppliers. It also has a large population of Amish and Mennonite living in Goshen and Nappanee. Elkhart has one river that runs through the downtown and converges with another river. At the beginning of this walk in the summer is a park with water fountains that the kids can play in. This same park in the winter floods this area with water and it becomes an ice rink. They have built a riverwalk that meanders along the rivers and through 7 parks.














The visitor center for the area has done a free CD that takes you on a 90 mile loop giving lots of history and information. It was a fun day and we even learned a few things like this area is the largest producer of popcorn in the world. There are regular and tiny kernels and red, blue, yellow and white.


Of course, we drove through lots of Amish country. Their farms are easy to spot - no electric going to them, painted white, usually many buildings, buggies parked and the creative clothes lines going from the house to the barn on a pulley system. This one is moving equipment to harvest the corn with an Amish farm in the background.






The RV Museum and Hall of Fame was interesting. It has the first RVs starting in 1913 right on up to the present. They have come a long way!










Since the University of Notre Dame was just 10 minutes away in South Bend we went there to see the campus and historic buildings. This is the main building which in the beginning housed all of the university and then was destroyed by fire. They spent all summer of 1879 building this so that they could start classes that fall. The dome is covered in gold leaf. It is a very large campus with open spaces, gardens and parks throughout. We were surprised to learn from a student that there are about 8,000 undergrads and 5,000 grads - with such a large campus and so many buildings we thought it would be much larger. And it has a huge stadium right on campus.








We have moved on to Port Clinton OH right on Lake Erie. If it ever stops raining we have some exploring to do and hope to take the ferry to the islands and explore by bike.

South Dakota

Five nights in five states has brought us to Rapid City. Pam became an official South Dakotian by getting her drivers license. We are being tourists visiting and revisiting places in this area and having fun all the time! More later.......

North Cascade Mountains & Winthrop

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, so since we had not been to Winthrop in many, many years we decided to go. Since you drive over the North Cascade Mountains to eastern WA, it is a beautiful drive and the mountains are more spectacular driving east to west, so we just went straight to Winthrop and enjoyed stopping for the mountains on the way back. It was an all day trip and boy was Cookie tired and hungry when we got home!

Winthrop is a town built for tourists. It is only about a block long with boardwalks (wood) for sidewalks and tourists. The store fronts are facades with a western theme and tourists. The shops are all souvenir and t-shirt shops for tourists. We did find a sandwich shop that had good, huge sandwiches for a reasonable price considering all the tourists. Then we indulged in ice cream cones along with all the tourists since it was quite warm there. Did I mention this place is for tourists? Yep, and there were plenty of them!

It was a beautiful drive across the mountains. These mountains are known as the North American Alps with glaciers and lakes. This road closes for snow usually in Nov and doesn't reopen until April or May depending on the snow and when they can get it cleared and it will remain cleared. There are lots of viewpoints and it well worth seeing if you are in this area. From Concrete (west side) to Marblemont the roads follows the Skagit River and is where the salmon spawn which brings hundreds of Bald Eagles to feed for the winter. Then you begin to climb and just before Newhalem there is National Park visitor center with lots of information. Then you pass Ross Lake and really begin to climb up to Rainy Pass (wonder why that name in WA) and then on to Washington Pass, the highest on this road at 5,500'. You then begin a quick decent into the Methow Valley and much warmer temperatures, sometimes 100+. Finally you are in Winthrop. Enjoy the pictures!